the warmth of his breath disturbed the loose tendrils of hair beside her exposed ear, his arm curved along the top of the wooden tub behind her. ‘Did you miss me?’ he asked softly.
Luccy was totally unnerved by Sin’s close proximity, her shoulders tensed as she sat slightly away from the back of the tub in order to avoid coming into contact with the warmth of his arm. ‘You’ve only been gone a couple of hours,’ she pointed out.
Strangely, though, she had missed him, the house having suddenly felt very empty with only herself and Wallace in residence. But Luccy didn’t intend telling Sin that!
‘So I have,’ he murmured ruefully, his arm bending slightly behind her as his fingers began to play with the loose tendrils of hair at her nape. ‘Did you think of me while I was away?’ he added gruffly.
‘No, of course not—’ Luccy had turned sharply to look at him, and then wished she hadn’t as she found her face now only inches away from his, those silver-grey eyes totally mesmerising.
Sin had certainly found himself thinking of Luccy while he’d been in the city the past couple of hours!
None of his previous relationships had ever involved actually living with a woman, and with the penthouse suite at the Sinclair Hotel at his disposal he’d never brought women back to his home in order to sleep with them, either.
The clinging wet tee shirt Luccy was wearing revealed more than it concealed as Sin felt his gaze once again drawn to the darkness of her nipples so clearly outlined against the white material, and he wondered what else she was wearing…
Another of those scraps of lace, he discovered as his hand moved caressingly along the length of her thigh to her hip. Black this time, he found as he moved her tee shirt slightly to one side so that he could touch the warmth of her waist before cupping the fullness of her breast, watching the way Luccy’s eyes darkened, her lips slightly parted as the soft pad of his thumb moved across the rigid nipple.
‘You’re thinking of me now, though, hmm?’ he murmured.
‘Of how you like my hands touching you. Of how it would feel if I were to bend down and suck—’
‘Don’t, Sin,’ she groaned breathlessly.
‘Why not?’ he challenged huskily as he looked up and saw the flush of arousal on her cheeks.
‘Because I won’t become another of the women you seduce in your hot tub!’ she roused herself enough to protest.
‘Another of the women I seduce in my hot tub?’ he repeated incredulously.
‘No,’ Luccy insisted tautly as she very firmly removed Sin’s wandering hand before moving slightly away from him.
‘What makes you think I have a parade of women through here?’ Sin asked curiously.
‘The costume I found in the changing-room,’ Luccy snapped. ‘The costume with a 36C top.’
‘And you are?’
‘At the moment? A 32D, and growing,’ she added ruefully; Luccy had always been slightly disappointed that her bust size had stopped when she reached the age of sixteen, but she had definitely started to expand in that area since becoming pregnant.
Sin’s gaze warmed appreciatively. ‘I’m not complaining.’
‘Sin—’
‘The costume in the changing-room belongs to my mother, Luccy,’ he interrupted.
She blinked. ‘Your mother?’
Sin was so close to Luccy now that he could see the darker flecks of blue in her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that a man could lose his soul in…
‘My mother uses that costume when she’s here,’ he expanded, wondering suddenly whether he was in danger of losing his soul to her. ‘I never bring women here, Luccy,’ he assured her even as he gave in to the temptation to allow his lips to once more taste the creamy expanse of her throat.
That throat moved convulsively as Luccy swallowed. ‘You brought me here.’
‘Ah, but you aren’t “women”,’ Sin murmured as he tasted the lobe of her ear now.
‘I’m not?’
‘Not at all,’ Sin responded. ‘You’re the future mother of my children, and the future mistress of this house.’
Until that moment, the owner of that black bathing costume now explained, Luccy had been in danger of succumbing to the air of intimacy that surrounded them, of losing herself totally in Sin’s seduction. But this stark reminder of Sin’s intention of seducing her into marrying him completely evaporated her rapidly escalating arousal.
She moved sharply away from him. ‘I said don’t, Sin!’ she repeated more firmly as she stood up and moved towards the step to get out, totally uncaring of the way the white tee shirt clung to her; after all, there was nothing there that Sin hadn’t already seen, touched, or kissed!
‘Why the hell not?’ he growled as he looked across at her.
‘I am not going to be the mother of your children or the future mistress of this house!’ Luccy was breathing hard in her agitation.
‘That’s exactly what you’re going to be—’
‘No, it is not!’ Luccy turned back to face him, her face flushed with anger now. ‘I allowed you to bring me here only so that we could discuss future arrangements for after the baby is born. I’ve already told you why I have absolutely no intention of marrying you, let alone having other children with you.’
Sin’s mouth was a taut line. ‘And I’ve already told you that the alternative, my setting you up in a house somewhere and then only being allowed agreed visitation rights, is not an option, either!’
‘I haven’t asked for any of that—’
‘What other alternatives are there?’ he rasped coldly. ‘Come on, Luccy, if neither of those is acceptable, what else is there?’
‘I don’t know.’ Tears glistened in her eyes. ‘I just know that I can’t marry a man—any man—because I’m expecting his baby!’
Sin nodded grimly. ‘Because your sister did and the marriage was a disaster.’
‘Well, it was!’ Luccy cried. ‘She and Rory despise each other now.’
‘And you think that might happen to us, too?’
‘You don’t particularly like me now, so, yes, in eight years’ time you’ll probably hate the sight of me.’
‘Oh, I like you now, Luccy,’ he muttered.
Luccy shot him an impatient glare. ‘You’re talking about in a sexual way!’
He shrugged bare shoulders. ‘It’s a good place to start.’
‘It’s a good place to finish, too!’
Sin’s expression was grim. ‘We have at least one advantage over your sister and her ex-husband that I can see.’
Luccy tensed warily. ‘Which is?’
His mouth twisted derisively. ‘You would be marrying a billionaire—’
‘Sin, don’t you dare start accusing me again of wanting you for your money,’ she warned angrily. ‘I’ve seen how most rich men treat their wives, and I can assure you that I have no intention of marrying you and being left in this house like some—some—’
‘Some what?’ Sin asked, dangerously soft.
‘Some trophy on the mantel—’ Luccy made it sound like an insult ‘—while no doubt you remain in the city night after night, at your conveniently “always available” suite at the Sinclair Hotel, entertaining your girlfriends!’
Sin’s